My buddy Don Noels, who has died aged 84, was a instructor in South Africa who moved to the UK after being imprisoned for his anti-apartheid actions. In his new homeland he continued instructing, rising to be deputy head at a London complete, in addition to together with his activism.
Unable for years to return to South Africa, Don co-founded the UK-based Azania Liberation Help Committee (ALSC), a gaggle of exiles that printed two magazines: the month-to-month Azania Frontline and the quarterly Azania Employee. Articles for each have been smuggled into the UK through a community of contacts in South Africa earlier than being edited and laid out by volunteers and despatched again for clandestine distribution.
Don had been given the title Ronnie when born in Salt River, Cape City, an space designated for “coloureds”. His father, Frank, was a boilermaker who fought within the second world conflict, whereas his mom, Rosina (nee Ruitis), labored as a housemaid. Politicised by apartheid from an early age, he honed his concepts at Trafalgar highschool earlier than profitable a bursary to check at Cape City College, after which he turned a historical past instructor at Oaklands highschool.
Round that point Don joined a Marxist cell that met secretly on a weekly foundation, attempting to work out methods of sparking a revolution towards the apartheid regime. In 1968 all its members have been arrested, and Don spent three months beneath interrogation in jail. Though no expenses have been introduced, he was instructed that if picked up once more he would face a for much longer interval of incarceration.
He and his spouse, Margaret, a fellow instructor whom he had married in 1966, fled to the UK. They settled in London in 1969, and he taught first at Shirley faculty in Croydon after which at Chelsea boys’ faculty. Later, he turned an adviser on the Interior London Schooling Authority and deputy head at Stoke Newington faculty, taking early retirement in 1994.
Don’s ALSC work concerned organising connections between anti-apartheid activists in South Africa and politicians and commerce unionists in London. Through the years he offered introductions – in addition to meals and lodging – to visiting figures equivalent to Cyril Ramaphosa, who went on to be president of South Africa, and Moses Mayekiso, later common secretary of the Nationwide Union of Metalworkers. As soon as apartheid fell, the help committee was disbanded.
Don was unable to regain full South African citizenship, however from 1975 onwards he returned repeatedly to his birthplace to see household and pals. On his preliminary visits he was given a 24-hour tail by police, however in later years was capable of transfer round extra freely.
Outdoors work and activism, he was a high-quality sportsman who performed soccer for Cape City Hotspurs and cricket within the Middlesex League for Shepherd’s Bush, the place I met him. Retiring to Birmingham, he served as a Justice of the Peace and have become a member of Handsworth golf membership, the place he was a well-liked character.
He’s survived by his second spouse, Margaret Shakespeare, a former college administrator whom he married in 2021, two daughters from his first marriage, which led to divorce, and two grandchildren.
